He will learn to fly Sea King helicopters with pinpoint accuracy in treacherous conditions to rescue stricken mountaineers or exhausted swimmers.
The Prince, 26, decided to join the RAF as his best chance to "serve operationally" in the Armed Forces as he was barred from going to Afghanistan unlike Prince Harry.
Training Flight Lieutenant Wales – as he will be known – during the two-year course will cost £800,000 and has been code-named Golden Osprey by Ministry of Defence officials.
He is expected to become an operational pilot early in 2011 and complete at least one three-year search and rescue tour of duty on a starting salary of £36,000.
He will be based at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire.
Wing Commander Andy Lovell, the chief flying instructor at RAF Shawbury's Defence Helicopter Flying School (DHFS), which will train the Prince, said: "Just as with the Army before, Flight Lieutenant Wales will be treated as any junior officer and he will be expected to fully integrate both at work and socially.
"He will not be given preferential treatment."
The Prince will still be involved with royal duties while training and will fit his official engagements around his course, completing about 20 events over the next 12 months – similar to last year.
The start of his RAF career and the recent announcement that he and his brother Prince Harry have formed their own offices at St James's Palace to handle their affairs signals William's growing independence.
The Prince learned to fly helicopters during a four-month secondment with the RAF last year.
But he soon ran into criticism after he piloted a number of Chinook helicopters, while under training, on a series of personal trips including flying to a stag do, a wedding and the home of his girlfriend Kate Middleton's parents at a total cost of £86,000.
